How Often Do I Need To Have My Air Conditioning & Heating Unit Checked?
How Often Do I Need To Have My Air Conditioning & Heating Unit Checked?
Magic Touch Mechanical’s offices are located in Mesa, Arizona where today in late August it is 109 degrees Fahrenheit! So, it may seem a little unusual to some that we have already begun contacting our clients to schedule their fall heating tune-ups.
Granted, we are scheduling heater tune-ups for late October and early November right now so that we can be sure all of our clients enjoy quick service when the mad rush begins, but that’s not the only reason we are contacting our clients right now.
Many of our clients when calling in are saying; “I think you sent us this reminder by mistake…you guys did our maintenance in the spring”. We explain that it was not a mistake, as most HVAC equipment manufacturers now require both a cooling and heating tune up before each season in order to keep their warranty in good standing.
In fact, the majority of manufacturers print this right in the Homeowner Operation Manual as can be seen in the photo below.
Some manufactures have taken it a step further by adding a warning in the same manual that not being able to provide documentation proving maintenance has been done twice a year will void the warranty.
In recent years we have seen more and more examples where not only standard parts warranty claims were denied due to a homeowner failing to have the system maintained…we’ve even seen a few cases where homeowners had purchased additional extended parts and labor coverage and had their claim denied thinking they were covered and didn’t need to have maintenance performed.
Our philosophy at Magic Touch Mechanical is to provide a higher level of service than our competition and for that reason we make it our mission to keep our clients informed and protected.
So…if you are a Magic Touch client and have received something in the mail from us about scheduling your system maintenance, it’s because we are making sure you are well taken care of!
If you are not a Magic Touch client and you live in the Phoenix, AZ area…maybe you should be ☺
Some of our long time clients have also asked why cant we simply check the air conditioning and heating systems in one visit. Seems like a logical question to me!
Without getting overly complicated, let me explain why that’s not possible. In the first scenario, let’s discuss a heat pump. A heat pump utilizes all of the same components in the cooling mode that is does in the heating mode, just in reverse.
A heat pump cools and heats by utilizing a refrigerant gas that is constantly changing from a gas to a liquid and back again. This gas is under pressure. Pressures rise when heated and lower when cooled. So, to try to check how a system is heating when it’s hot outside, or cooling when its cold outside not only cant give a true indication of performance, it can actually cause damage to components like the compressor.
An air conditioning system connected to a gas heating system works differently and utilizes different components for heating than it does for cooling. Testing a gas unit in the summer also presents some problems but more so the concern is safety.
It’s important to check a gas unit in the fall before the heating system begins to assure you and your family are safe from potential fire hazard, carbon monoxide poisoning, and dangerous gas leaks.
Each year in the fall we discover several bird nests and rodent nests inside the flue pipes of our clients gas furnaces. These animals nest there in the summer and their nests block dangerous carbon monoxide gasses from exhausting properly.
We also find several units a year where the natural gas line connected to the furnace or gas pack has become loose and is slowly leaking gas into the home.
Bottom line, if your one of the lucky people in Arizona with toasty warm gas heat…you have more to be concerned about than just a denied warranty claim.
No matter which type of unit you have or whether or not you are still covered by a factory warranty or not, having your air conditioning and heating unit checked before the start of each season is a good investment. It’s the only way to avoid costly breakdowns, assure your equipment is operating as efficiently as possible and is safe to operate. Two visits a year from a professional HVAC Contractor will give you peace of mind!